Brockenhurst Parkrun No.3 - 8th June 2013

(Run report written for the Brockenhurst Parkrun webpage)

The run of great weather (on Saturdays at least, but that's what counts!) continued for the third Brockenhurst Parkrun this week. There was not a cloud in the sky, but a bit of a strong wind blowing from the north east making the run up the railway line side of the course loop a bit tougher.

This was my third Brockenhurst outing in three weeks and each has given a different persective on the event. Run no. 1 was as a normal runner and I found the course to be really pleasant, flat and potentially quite fast. At run no.2 I was volunteering, helping to run the event by giving out position tokens and the end of the finish funnel. It was a really great experience to see everyone finishing and helping the run organisation go smoothly. Run no. 3 was different again, as my wife was running a Parkrun for the the first time, so I decided to accompany her for moral support and buggy pushing duty! As this wasn't going to be a flat out run effort, and given the all grass nature of the course, I decided to also try out running barefoot. Running without shoes was really nice, the course is generally short soft grass, with only a few harder bits of ground. Although it was a little chilly and damp underfoot in the sections where the sun had yet to reach! Running with a baby buggy was also really good, apart from a few bumpy patches along the north side of the course it's nice and smooth all the way around. 

This week 37 runners finished the run, there were 7 first time runners and 19 Parkrunners new to Brockenhurst. In first place was Paul Bartlett in 18:53 and First Lady was Heather Butcher in 23:52.